The government shutdown might keep you from setting foot inside America's national parks, but that doesn't mean you can't take in one of the most spectacular sights the parks have to offer.

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On a trip to California's Yosemite National Park, photographer Mei Xu captured the park's iconic Bridalveil Fall cascading more than 620 feet into a pool of illuminated color. Though the scene might seem surreal, the natural phenomenon has a real scientific explanation. The Daily Mail reports that on bright, sunny days, the water vapor from the waterfall acts as a prism, bending rays of sunlight at just the right angle, and then regurgitating them in the form of a brilliant spectrum of color.

Weather patterns at the site also contribute to the prevalence of the phenomenon at Bridalveil Fall. Gusting winds sweep the flow of water into wisps, creating a spread of water vapor that refracts the encroaching sunshine into a blanket of blues and reds.

During times of drought, or when water levels are low, the wind catches Bridalveil's trickle and sweeps it into the air in the form of a fine mist which may never reach the ground.

Want to see the "rainbow falls" for yourself? You'll need to wait out the government shutdown and a bit of luck. To see the "rainbow falls," you have to stand at just the right angle, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which makes Xu's photos all the more unforgettable.